The Little Me Update: I’m reading and writing a lot lately. Yesterday was an incredibly productive day as I get closer to putting a (long) short story called The Dangerous Kind up on Smashwords. It’s amazing how many alterations I still want to tinker with as I go through the editing process. Still!
Anyway, I’m also in book recommendation mode this week, so…
Have you subscribed to Zoe Winters blog yet? If you are an indie author, you definitely should. I especially like her ranty goodness on her wordpress blog. As I waited for my son to finish soccer practice I started digging into the last chapter of Zoe Winters’ book: Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author.
This is the single most helpful book on the business of self-publishing I’ve read. (I have the Sony e-reader version, though I think I’ll want to get the print copy, too, for easy reference and permanent residence on my bookshelf. Yes, I do that, too!)
Zoe has a no-nonsense approach to the subject which boils things down to what you need to know to succeed as an indie author. There are a lot of useful books on the subject out there, but this is delivers the bullet without preamble or extra excavation needed on the part the reader. Zoe Winters has broken the trail and mapped out the way so it’s easier for you.
I especially love how frank she is about the self-publishing strategies that didn’t work. The book is worth your time and money for the troubleshooting section alone.
And she’s good at spotting the details others might have missed. For instance, everyone agrees Goodreads can be a great place to boost awareness of self-published books. But Zoe is savvy to point out the pitfalls, too (like if the regulars get a whiff of the stink of self-promotion on you they’ll find your home, break in and beat you to death with Webster’s dictionaries.)
If you don’t love her already, she also made a series of YouTube Videos about breaking into publishing the indie way. Go to YouTube and search for the series called Zoe Who? . Enjoy. (And buy her guide.)
Here’s a sample video of Zoe Who? by Zoe Winters:
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Filed under: authors, book reviews, Books, DIY, ebooks, getting it done, self-publishing, Useful writing links, Writers
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